Assured Guaranty Wraps Its Third UK University Bond Issuance in Recent Months

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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Assured Guaranty (Europe) Ltd. (AGE)* announced that it has guaranteed
principal and interest payments on approximately £186 million of bonds
issued by East Slope Residencies PLC. The bond issuance raised
approximately £197 million of proceeds to finance the construction of
new halls of residence at the University of Sussex (the University)**.
As a result of the guarantee, the bonds are rated AA by S&P Global
Ratings. The underlying project is rated BBB.

The publicly listed 45-year inflation-linked bond priced on 27 March
2017 at a spread of 155 bps per annum and was able to take advantage of
the current low long term real rates by issuing at a negative real yield
(prior to adding in inflation). In order to address what would otherwise
be a negative coupon, the bonds were issued at a premium price of
approximately 106% with a real coupon of 0.10%.

Balfour Beatty will build and maintain the halls through wholly owned
subsidiaries and are the main sponsor of the project company, East Slope
Residencies Student Accommodation LLP (ProjectCo). The University has a
20% stake in ProjectCo.

The bonds will finance the development of the University’s flagship
halls of residence on the eastern part of its campus, involving the
demolition of a 568 existing bed facility and the construction of a
2,117 new bed facility, several communal social spaces and a new student
union.

Dominic Nathan, Managing Director, AGE, commented:

"This is our fourth wrap for a UK university since 2013, and our third
in just over three months, representing approximately £450 million of
guarantees in the sector. For the university sector, where the
concessions have 40-year maturities or more, the use of our AA wrap adds
value in two ways. Firstly, it provides very long term debt that is
ideal to match the lives of these types of projects and, secondly, 100%
inflation-linked debt provides highly efficient financing that adds real
value to the sponsors. We continue to see strong demand for this type of
wrapped bond issuance across various sectors and an increased number of
investors choosing to invest in longer maturities to match their
liabilities.”

Nick Proud, Chief Executive, AGE, commented:

“There is strong demand from investors for highly rated infrastructure
bonds as a direct result of Solvency II, as evidenced by the very
competitive spread achieved for a deal of this nature. In this
transaction, as with others we have closed recently, a wrap proved to be
the most cost-effective solution to deliver this financing."

AGE* guarantees timely payment of scheduled principal and interest to
bondholders throughout the life of the bonds, in accordance with the
terms of its financial guarantees.

The advisers of AGE* on the deal were Norton Rose Fulbright (legal
adviser), Gleeds (technical adviser), CBRE (demand adviser) and AON
(insurance adviser). HSBC was the bond lead manager and bookrunner.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

All of the securities having been sold, this announcement is for
information purposes only.This announcement does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any
securities.

The securities described herein have not been and will not be
registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended
("Securities Act"), or with any securities regulatory authority of any
state or jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold
or transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States absent
registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption from, or
in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the
Securities Act and the securities laws of any state or other
jurisdiction of the United States.

* AGE (company number 2510099) is authorised by the Prudential
Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
and the Prudential Regulation Authority. AGE provides its financial
guarantee together with a co-guarantee from its affiliate Assured
Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM).

Through its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL and, together with
its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty) is the leading provider of financial
guarantees for principal and interest payments due on municipal, public
infrastructure and structured financings. Its subsidiary AGM guarantees
international infrastructure and U.S. municipal bonds - and was
previously named Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA) before becoming
an Assured Guaranty company in July 2009. AGE, a subsidiary of AGM, is
Assured Guaranty’s European operating platform. AGL is a publicly traded
(NYSE: AGO), Bermuda-based holding company. More information on AGL and
its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.

** THE BONDS WERE NOT FOR SALE IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA
OR JAPAN NOR SOLD FOR BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP BY PERSONS IN THOSE
JURISDICTIONS.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect
Assured Guaranty’s current views with respect to future events and are
made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from
those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, those resulting from Assured Guaranty’s
inability to execute its strategies; the demand for Assured Guaranty’s
financial guarantees; further actions that the rating agencies may take
with respect to Assured Guaranty’s financial strength ratings; adverse
developments in Assured Guaranty’s guaranteed portfolio; and other risks
and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time,
management’s response to these factors, and other risk factors
identified in AGL’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which are made as of 3 April 2017. Assured
Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law.